DANVILLE — Dylan Deitsch had no intention of trying to make a play. The night was cold, windy and wet — the perfect formula to muff a punt. During a game like this, scoreless deep into the fourth quarter, a fumble could end up being the ballgame. So, as the punt wobbled in Deitsch direction, the senior was content to let the ball hit the ground, roll until its momentum stopped and let his offense go to work.
At least initially.
That calculus changed when the punt landed on the turf and bounced straight up. The ball beckoned to be grabbed. Deitsch obliged. He found a gap. He found his blockers. He didn’t find the end zone, but he did find the red zone. Deitsch didn’t score the go-ahead, game-winning, fourth-quarter touchdown — that honor went to running back Sammy Avalos — but the senior’s daring punt return set the table for San Ramon Valley’s 7-0 win over Cardinal Newman in the NCS Division I semifinal.
“I saw that ball and I was like, ‘This is the play,'” Deitsch said. “It ended up in my hands and we took advantage of it.”
“It’s Dylan Deitsch — you never really know,” Avalos said. “It doesn’t surprise me that he went out there and made a play. That’s what he does. That’s why we’ve been so successful this year: because of guys like him.”
For Avalos, his 13-yard touchdown run represented redemption. Earlier in the fourth quarter, the game still scoreless Avalos received a dumpoff from quarterback Rhett Thompson and, like Deitsch, found a gap and found his blockers. Cardinal Newman, though, found the football. Avalos fumbled, and the Wolves lost its best chance to score on a night where those opportunities were rare. Before Avalos reached the sideline, he found himself swarmed by a group of teammates offering support.
“That just exemplifies what our team is,” Avalos said. “We’re a family. Everyone in there told me, ‘Get back in there. That plays washed. Keep doing what you’re doing.’ That’s a testament to what our team is and why we win these gritty games.”
Gritty is an apt adjective for a game where San Ramon Valley and Cardinal Newman effectively spent three-and-a-half quarters trading field position. The Wolves had far more success at moving the football but were unable to string together plays and find the end zone.
Much of San Ramon Valley’s offensive stagnation resulted from the elements. The Wolves cycled in fresh footballs for just about every play, but they’d wind up soaked by the time the ball was snapped. The rain, in turn, neutralized San Ramon Valley’s pass game. Thompson made several splash plays under the circumstances, namely a 32-yard completion to receiver Owen Scott, but the Wolves left dozens of yards on the table.
In the second quarter, for example, Thompson delivered a perfect pass to a receiver streaking down the sideline. If the ball was caught, San Ramon Valley had a touchdown. The ball found hands, then the ball found grass. The Wolves missed a pair of 39-yard field goals as well, both attempts having the distance but veering wide right.
Both teams’ inability to score resulted in creativity on both sides. In the third quarter, San Ramon Valley used linebacker Marco Jones at tight end. Jones, a Texas A&M commit, caught a game-winning touchdown earlier in the year but was unable to haul in a pass on Friday. Cardinal Newman called on an even bolder play, using 6’4″, 293-pound defensive lineman Kahlio Vaetoe out of the shotgun on a “quarterback” keep.
“It’s hard to prepare for it,” said head coach Aaron Becker of the rain. “We had some thoughts on what we could try to do, but the game speaks otherwise. You just have to try to roll with what you think can work.”
With Friday’s win, San Ramon Valley will play Pittsburg in a rematch of last year’s NCS Division I title game — a game where the Pirates beat the Wolves, 37-21.
“They have a lot of really good players and they’re going to be hungry,” Becker said of Pittsburg, which lost to De La Salle on Friday in the NCS Open final. “Hopefully our kids rise to the challenge.”
